If you take State Highway 76 out of Christchurch and head toward Akaroa you will find the pretty little town of Tai Tapu (population close to 1100 for the area). The Secretary of the Tai Tapu Bowling Club happens to be a very efficient man by the name of Marty Braithwaite. The President of the Club, Tim Pavey describes Marty as one of the important members of the club and says "we really value Marty and no one else can have him". Why is Marty so important to the club?

A part of Marty's professional life involved dealing with documents and policies at a high level. This made him well suited to lead the Tai Tapu Club through the constitutional changes required by all Clubs under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. Because they are an Incorporated Society, bowling clubs all over the country have until March 2026 to review and update their constitutions to align with the requirements in the Act. The Bowls New Zealand CEO, Mark Cameron and Club Support Manager, Martin MacKenzie,  have been visiting all Centres to present to the Clubs about all matters related to this process. The meetings have been well attended and Mark has been presenting a recommended template that they can use to achieve the required constitutional requirements. If they haven't been to your Centre yet, they will be there in the next month or two.

This brings us back to Marty. He attended the Canterbury Centre meeting to find out all about what was needed. Prior to the meeting, Marty had already done a great deal of preparation for a proposed new constitution for the Tai Tapu Club. Marty discovered that Bowls New Zealand had already done all of the top line work needed for the new constitution and all he had to do was include any matters particularly relating to their club. Marty described that he "unwillingly threw away all his preparatory work and used the Bowls New Zealand template instead." He continued on to describe this as "easy". The Club has since had its AGM, passed the proposed new constitution at the meeting, and has now become only the second bowling club in the country to have their new constitution registered by the Incorporated Societies. Congratulations to the Tai Tapu Bowling Club and particularly to Marty for leading the club through the required processes. Job well done Marty, and thanks for your great leadership within the bowling community.

After Mark and Martin have presented at your Centre, if anyone needs any further guidance on these matters please contact us for assistance:
Martin MacKenzie Martin@bowlsnewzealand.co.nz
Rob Davis ~North Island~ Rob@bowlsnewzealand.co.nz
Kevin Smith ~South Island~ Kevin@bowlsnewzealand.co.nz.